INTERACTION

I was thinking it'd be kind of cool to be able to give friends a "best of" copy of Interzone (maybe as a stocking stuffer at Christmas) which would contain stories that made the most recent Readers' Poll. Maybe that would get new readers interested. What do you think?

Maybe a return to the days of IZ anthologies might be an idea - I believe that, thanks to changes in technology, smaller print runs are much more financially viable these days.

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"I have a fatal compulsion to find a kind of higher sense in things that make no sense at all."

Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

VelcroCityTouristBoard

I'll second that.
I used to get those instead of the magazine (especially when I couldn't afford subs).

Doesn't have to be annual, really, 2 or 3 books per decade would be great, eh?

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Pigasus Press | VideoVista | The ZONE

A yearly special issue sounds like a VERY good idea to me. It would be a great place to start for new readers, and a great way of showcasing the talent that IZ attracts.

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http://www.garethlpowell.com

I'd be interested in a readers poll collection if it was a hardback book.

Eh? Why? Would it be more of a collector's item or something?

An anthology wouldn't really interest me, I must say, as I'm not in the habit of getting rid of old magazines and still have all my copies of IZ.

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Shaun C. Green

Nostalgia For Infinity
Literature, gaming, punk rock... and all that.

Likewise; but I think an anthology would be a way of reaching the sf readers who don't buy magazines - or even know they exist.

I think hardbacks would be prohibitively expensive, but this strikes me as the ideal opportunity to employ a service like Lulu.com . The problem with most self-published work is the lack of a decent editorial process, which an Interzone anthology would not suffer from. As it's a print on demand service, no one would end up out of pocket if the experiment wasn't a success.

Just an idea.

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"I have a fatal compulsion to find a kind of higher sense in things that make no sense at all."

Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

VelcroCityTouristBoard

Hmm, I wonder about that. Do anthology sales really compare to magazine sales that well? I'd imagine that anthology sales are actually below magazine sales on average. And would people buy the anthology who weren't familiar with the Interzone (god, I hate using this word) brand?

POD is a good call, though - there's certainly little to lose if you're confident that the printing and binding quality is good enough.

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Shaun C. Green

Nostalgia For Infinity
Literature, gaming, punk rock... and all that.

An anthology would surely be a good way to get new readers into the scene, if only because it could lurk on library shelves waiting for someone looking for a new author to find. When I was a kid I used to go down to my local library and pick up anthologies of horror stories, because I could read them in all the spare half-hours I had lurking around - one sitting, one story. If I liked a story, I could go back and see if there were any books by that author. With widespread access to the internet, it would be even easier for someone to find other works by the same author, and through the contacts they make searching they could find more new authors.

Plus it's got to feel good to see your name in an actual real published book. Writers' egos are sometimes fragile things and need all the help they can get (whether they'll admit or not )

I think I agree with Foxie on this one. Most of the "genre" books in my local library, which was very small, were anthologies - unless you're into historical romance, of course. They were usually old ones, too. I think they serve as a very good introduction to any new area of interest. There's also something very cool about the feel and smell of a book as oppose to a magazine. Books are something special. (Magazines are, too, of course but they don't have the same magic.)

But I would be unlikely to buy one for myself as I'm a hoarder and would probably have all the stories, anyway. Although, creating an anthology would give the opportunity for Editorials and Author's Notes and such that would give added depth. So maybe I would. I would definitely buy it as a gift for someone else if I thought they were interested in finding out more about modern speculative fiction (I'm still back in the sci-fi days myself, nevermind anyone else).

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Jo Thomas
http://www.journeymouse.net/

Well I like hardbacks ... they're less likely to fall apart after a few years and when you throw them at people they make an agreeable "thud!" when they bounce off the skull, with head rubbing to follow; paperbacks make a less impressive "plump!" sound, and - frankly - noone is chastened or made to see the error of their ways.

Also, don't libraries prefer hardbacks, and - as has been pointed out - many people's introduction to written SF is likely to be through the library.

I will admit though, wanting hardback copies does seem to be a sign of getting on in years - which is ironic as the need for owning long-lasting editions surely declines as you get ever closer to that chap carrying a scythe over his shoulder.

That's something I've been pondering lately... also, and still on a morbid topic, when a constant reader finally gets around to making a Will, who do you leave your (presumably valuable..?) collection of books to?

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Pigasus Press | VideoVista | The ZONE

I volunteer!

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Shaun C. Green

Nostalgia For Infinity
Literature, gaming, punk rock... and all that.

Over my dead body!

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Pigasus Press | VideoVista | The ZONE

Isn't that legally binding, with all these witnesses?